Cate Masters's Blog, page 79

An early Christmas present

Years ago, I read about mountain man Jim Bridger, who worked as a guide and scout, but basically lived free in the incredible pristine wilderness of the unsettled West. Though illiterate, he memorized many passages from Shakespeare's works, which he'd recite. This fascinated me, and I bought a few books about Jim. Once I realized how famous he already was, I knew I couldn't do him justice by writing about him anymore than he'd already been written about. But I loved the idea of a mountain man reciting Shakespeare.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favorites, so I wove the title into A Midwest Summer Night's Dream. It's one of the many stories I had languishing on the hard drive for a few years, and decided to finally finish it this year. My wonderful critique partners helped make it into a story I was proud of.
I nearly self-published it, but it's very difficult to find an image to accurately depict the 1800s, let alone a Western historical romance with a Shakespearean twist. So I subbed the novella.
This week, I had an acceptance from Siren/Book Strand! I've been doing the happy dance since. It's scheduled for an April 2012 release. Woo hoo!

Here's the very unofficial blurb:Winona Young flees Philadelphia hoping the man who sent her passage on the stagecoach will prove kind and generous, unlike her stepfather. If not, she'll make a life for herself in San Francisco and depend only on herself. When the stagecoach breaks down, she hires mountain man Jebediah Greene as her guide, but never expects to fall in love with him, and with the stunning beauty of the wilderness. Jeb's injury extends their stay at an Osage camp, but his mule-headedness makes him impossible to speak to, in any language.
Hardened by life on the trail, alone since his teens, Jebediah Greene finds romance in Shakespeare's works, but doesn't believe true love will find him. Until he meets Winona Young, a lithe beauty whose intelligence matches her willful stubbornness. No woman so refined would want to share Jeb's lifestyle. It nearly kills him to leave her in San Francisco, so he returns. When her suitor discovers her there, he must decide how far he'll go to win her love.

Visiting Paty Jager today

I'm at Paty Jager's, talking about stories that transcend the boundaries of genre.I'm also celebrating the release of my Christmas fantasy, Ground Rules (yes, again!). I hope you'll pop over and visit!

Another nice review for Ground Rules

Woot! Sizzling Hot Book Reviews rated Ground Rules a four-star read. Thanks so much!


Here's part of what the reviewer said:
Ground Rules is a cute story to make you in the mood for Christmas and miracles. Wish on a tree Angel seven times and receive a Angel in your kitchen.
Luke is the Harley, hunky not-like-you've-seen-before Angel. Had his heart broken and doesn't want to listen to his heart. In Ground Rules he shows Alice that other's have worse circumstances.
I really enjoyed Ground Rules. It reminded me of It's a Wonderful Life with a love twist. If you want a good book to get you into the spirit of Christmas and miracles I recommend Ground Rules.


If your holidays need a little extra cheer, you can find more about Ground Rules here.

SSS: Alice has an intruder

Welcome back for another peek at my Christmas fantasy, Ground Rules, just released by The Wild Rose Press. 

Alice wakes up and finds a tall, hunky blond guy in her kitchen, rummaging through her liquor cabinet. She hurls a succession of objects at him, to no avail:

At his wave, a wall of light caught each item and held it. The bizarre sight of her belongings drifting in sparkles like dust motes in sunlight made her head spin. Clenching her fists at her sides, she released a primal scream of terror.
From behind the curtain of light, he shot her a scowl. "What are you screaming for? Your liquor cabinet's practically empty, and I haven't had a drink in decades."

Check out the fab snippets of SSS authors here. 
Have a great week!

Family holiday traditions

Do you have any? I'm sharing one of mine at Maria Zannini's blog today. Pop on over and share one of yours!

And visit till Dec. 22nd for posts on how to create cool crafts, or make mouth-watering dishes that'll curl even an elf's toes. :) 

Diana Gabaldon's writing process

I love hearing other authors talk about their process. Diana Gabaldon's is similar to mine, in that she works on several at once.
What about you - do you concentrate on one at a time? Or find it helps your flow to switch between a few?

Nice review for Ground Rules

The Long and Short of It Reviews had some nice things to say about Ground Rules. My favorite is the wrap-up:

This fun fantasy tale will keep you reading and waiting to see just what happens next. I didn't see this ending coming, and I consider that an accomplishment for the author.
Why not try this read for yourself. It'd be a great book to read while sitting in front of the fire and sipping a hot chocolate. Just don't drink and read at the same time ... you might make a mess when you laugh out loud at the great humor the author shares.

I love that the reviewer recommends reading Ground Rules. If you'd like to, you can order it from The Wild Rose Press.

You can also check out the blurb, excerpt, book video, Casting Call and more here. [image error]

SSS: Meet Luke, a not-so-angelic angel

Thanks so much for visiting for Six Sentence Sunday! And thanks especially for your comments.
Here's another snippet from Ground Rules, my Christmas fantasy. Luke, a Watcher Angel, isn't enthusiastic about the holiday. He has his reasons. So he tends to avoid the scheduled seasonal get-togethers. 
Oh please. Luke would give anything not to have to attend yet another boring event. Stand around and sing, chat up the bosses, flirt with the seraphim—to no avail. He'd give anything to have a little one-on-one time with a girl. A real, in-the-flesh, warm-blooded girl.
Thoughts like that could get him demoted.
Check out all the amazing SSS authors here. Have a great week!

At Sandra Sookoo's today

Sandi's throwing a 12 Days of Christmas event on her blog. I hope you'll pop over and join me. You'll find lots of posts to put you in the holiday mood. [image error]

Margaret Atwood's creative process

I'm still psyched from seeing Margaret Atwood at her reading Tuesday night, and booksigning yesterday. Ack! I never thought I'd get to meet my literary idol. She's amazing.

I was especially inspired by her answer when someone asked why she writes in so many different forms - poetry, speculative, literary, you name it. She said: "Because nobody ever told me not to." A great reminder to one of my writing rules - go with your gut.

One of the highlights of her reading came at the end, when she actually sang the theme song for the fictional Mole Day, and ended with audience participation.

Some have criticized her for rejecting labels of her work. Her book In Other Worlds (of which I now have a signed copy - woo hoo!) delves into this, but basically, she said most of her work which others want to label as SciFi take after the Jules Verne model, which "has its feet in plausibility, and such a thing is theoretically possible."

When an audience member questioned the world for A Handmaid's Tale, she cautioned that "any set of human laws can be reversed. They're made up by people. After 9/11, The Patriot Act passed with barely a blink."

Here's another treat - she shares her creative process:



And a little more advice. :)

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